🧊⚡️ Ecolab's $4.75B Bet Reshapes AI Cooling

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With March 2026 coming to a close, physical AI scales its ambitions as D-Robotics raises $120 million to power third-party robots with its full-stack embodied AI chips, while Gecko Robotics wins a landmark $71 million US Navy contract — the largest robotics deal in naval history — to deploy wall-climbing robots across the Pacific Fleet. Data centers push deeper into infrastructure, with Ecolab acquiring liquid-cooling specialist CoolIT Systems for $4.75 billion and Frore Systems hitting unicorn status with a $143 million Series D to double AI rack compute density.

Mobility bets get bigger as Uber commits up to $1.25 billion to Rivian to co-deploy 50,000 autonomous robotaxis across 25 cities by 2028. On the energy front, Fervo Energy closes a landmark $421 million institutional project finance deal for enhanced geothermal, while Nth Cycle locks in a $1.1 billion offtake agreement with Trafigura for recycled battery critical minerals.

Stay sharp,

D-Robotics' $120M Series B1 Backs Embodied AI Chip Stack

Horizon Robotics spin-off D-Robotics raised $120 million to scale its full-stack embodied AI chips and developer platform powering third-party robot manufacturers. (Read more)

Gecko Robotics Wins Largest-Ever US Navy Robotics Contract ($71M)

Gecko Robotics landed a five-year, $71 million Navy and GSA contract — the biggest robotics deal in Navy history — deploying wall-climbing robots and AI digital twins to inspect 18 Pacific Fleet vessels, with the GSA vehicle unlocking access across all DoD branches. (Read more)

RoboForce Raises $52M for Heavy-Industry Physical AI Robots

YZi Labs led an oversubscribed $52 million round for RoboForce's TITAN robot, which targets solar, mining, and data center labor markets and has already racked up 11,000+ letters of intent. (Read more)

Amazon Acquires Swiss Quadruped Robot Startup RIVR

Amazon snapped up Zurich-based RIVR and its stair-climbing, 60-kilogram-capacity delivery robot to automate the final stretch of last-mile logistics. (Read more)

Milrem and PGZ Partner to Co-Develop Autonomous UGVs

Estonia's Milrem Robotics signed an MoU with Poland's 70-company defense group PGZ to integrate its combat-proven THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle into joint development programs. (Read more)

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Ecolab Snaps Up KKR's CoolIT in $4.75B Deal

Industrial giant Ecolab agreed to acquire liquid-cooling specialist CoolIT Systems for $4.75 billion in cash, doubling its addressable high-tech market to $10 billion and creating an end-to-end liquid-cooling-as-a-service platform for AI data centers. (Read more)

Frore Systems Hits Unicorn Status With $143M Cooling Round

Frore Systems closed a $143 million Series D, reaching a $1.64 billion valuation, as the San Jose startup — pivoted to AI chip liquid cooling at Jensen Huang's urging — gears up to scale its LiquidJet Nexus tray, which claims to double compute density per rack. (Read more)

Nscale Buys West Virginia AI Microgrid, Lands Microsoft LOI

Nscale acquired a 2,250-acre AI microgrid campus in Mason County, West Virginia — the US's first state-certified AI microgrid scalable to 8 GW — paired with a Microsoft letter of intent to deploy 1.35 GW of NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 GPUs starting in late 2027. (Read more)

QTS Locks Up 1,700 Nuclear-Adjacent Acres in Pennsylvania for $500M

Blackstone-owned QTS paid more than $500 million for 1,700 acres in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, adjacent to a nuclear plant and planned AWS campus, with 12–17 data centers slated for construction starting fall 2026. (Read more)

Foresight Raises $25M Series A to Predict Data Center Construction Delays

London-based Foresight secured a $25 million Series A led by Macquarie Capital VC for its AI platform that forecasts delays in data center megaprojects before they happen. (Read more)

Uber Bets $1.25B on Rivian to Build Robotaxis

Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian — $300 million upfront, the rest milestone-gated through 2031 — to co-develop and exclusively deploy up to 50,000 autonomous R2 robotaxis across 25 cities, launching commercially in San Francisco and Miami in 2028. (Read more)

Nvidia Powers Uber's L4 Robotaxi Push to 28 Cities

Nvidia and Uber announced a commercial platform deal at GTC 2026 to deploy Level 4 robotaxis powered by Nvidia's DRIVE Hyperion platform across 28 cities on four continents by 2028, with a long-run target of 100,000 vehicles — and Lyft, Bolt, and Grab also confirmed as adopters. (Read more)

Eve Air Mobility Confirms eVTOL Funding Runway Through 2028

Eve Air Mobility reported $392 million in cash at year-end 2025, 28 completed prototype test flights, and a plan for roughly 300 flights in 2026 as it pushes toward Brazilian type-certification. (Read more)

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Fervo Banks $421M in Landmark Geothermal Project Finance

Fervo Energy closed a $421 million non-recourse debt package from nine global banks — including Barclays, HSBC, and JPMorgan — for its Cape Station enhanced geothermal project in Utah, marking the first time a next-generation EGS project has cleared the institutional project-finance bar. (Read more)

KKR-Backed Zenobē Buys California Electric Truck Fleet Startup

UK battery and fleet operator Zenobē acquired San Francisco-based Revolv — operator of 13 EV depot-charging sites and 100+ electric delivery vans in California — signaling institutional conviction in US fleet electrification despite federal headwinds. (Read more)

Nth Cycle Locks In $1.1B Black Mass Deal with Trafigura

Nth Cycle signed a binding 10-year offtake agreement with commodities giant Trafigura to supply 2,000 tonnes of nickel and 1,500 tonnes of lithium annually — refined from recycled battery scrap — in the largest commercial deal yet for US-based battery critical mineral recycling. (Read more)

Orbital Startup Raises $10M to Beam Solar Power via Laser

Albuquerque-based Mantis Space emerged from stealth with an oversubscribed $10 million+ seed round to build a satellite constellation that captures solar energy and beams it via precision laser to power other spacecraft in eclipse. (Read more)